JP2000186946A - Small apparatus with measuring function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive digital clock with a thermometer which allows a graphic display by graphically displaying the physical quantity (temperature) data stored in a memory means in relative values from the prescribed value. SOLUTION: A liquid crystal display(LCD) driver 2 graphically displays the physical quantity data stored in a memory means in relative values from a prescribed value, i.e., it automatically measures temperature on the hour and stores the temperature and measurement time measured each time. When memorandums exceed seven, the oldest memorandum is discarded and the latest data are stored. The latest memorandum m1, and memorandums m2, m3... m7 are stored in the order of being new. In a CPU 3, a comparative arithmetic means 11 conducts comparative calculation between the temperature data stored in a comparison value memory means 12 and a RAM 5 and outputs LCD display data S3 to the LCD driver 2, based on the result. A graphic display is made with only comparative calculations, thus the number of arithmetic processings is reduced, and the number of dots can be economized also.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small device having a function of measuring a physical quantity, particularly to an electronic timepiece having a function of measuring a temperature, to improve the efficiency of LCD display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent electronic watches, due to the development of electronic technology and sensor technology, many multifunctional watches capable of measuring various physical quantities have been circulating. Among them, a clock capable of measuring temperature (hereinafter, a clock with a thermometer) has been known for a long time.

[0003] The result of the measurement is displayed on the display means of the clock by any method. In the case of a digital thermometer-equipped watch using an LCD, the simplest display method is to display single-shot temperature data numerically using seven-segment digits. However, when displaying a plurality of temperature data, a graph display is also effective in addition to a numerical display.
This is particularly effective when viewing continuous data changes. Hereinafter, a conventional example will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional clock with a digital thermometer. This conventional example is LCD1,
Switch 7, microcomputer 10, and temperature measuring means 20
It is composed of The microcomputer 10 includes an LCD driver 2 for driving the LCD, and a CPU for performing various calculations and controls.
3, a ROM 4 for storing program data S2, a RAM 5 for storing data such as temperature and time, and an I / O port 6 for inputting and outputting to and from an external circuit.
The RAM 5 and the I / O port 6 perform data processing via the data bus 8.

The switch 7 is a means for transmitting an external operation to the microcomputer 10 during various operations such as changing the mode of the timepiece. Normally, a "0" level signal is output, but when operated, a "1" level signal is output and data is sent to the microcomputer via the I / O port 6.

The temperature measuring means 20 measures the temperature and sends temperature data S 4 which can be processed by the microcomputer 10 to the I / O port 6. The microcomputer 10 receives the temperature data S from the I / O port 6.
The CPU 3 calculates the temperature using the RAM 5 in accordance with the program data S 2 stored in the ROM 4, creates LCD display data S 3 to be displayed on the LCD 1, and sends it to the LCD driver 2. LCD
The driver 2 performs display based on the LCD display data S3.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the LCD 1 of the timepiece with a digital thermometer according to the conventional example. The LCD 1 includes various marks, a 7-segment digit, a dot display section 11, and a cursor 12. In this conventional example, the mark is omitted because the description is unnecessary. 7-segment digits are numbered in parentheses.

For the sake of simplicity, the description will be made with reference to the display state in the temperature memo mode. The dot display unit 11 displays temperature data stored in the RAM 5 measured in the past, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing temperature. The cursor 12 indicates data at a specific time among the temperature data. The movement of the cursor 12, that is, the change of the data to be instructed, can be performed by the input from the switch 7. Digits (1) to (6) display the time of the temperature data specified by the cursor 12, and digits (7) to (9) display the temperature of the temperature data specified by the cursor 12.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As in this conventional example,
In a digital timepiece with a thermometer, a graph display using a dot matrix is very effective in visually displaying a physical quantity measured continuously. However, it is very difficult to provide a fine dot matrix in a wristwatch LCD having a very limited area, which is disadvantageous in terms of manufacturing cost. On the other hand, if the number of dots is reduced, the resolution becomes rough and the attractiveness of the graph display is reduced.

In addition, the temperature range between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature to be displayed when the measurement is performed continuously varies greatly from time to time. Therefore, if the scale in the temperature axis direction is fixed, a display may be performed only in a very narrow range, or conversely, it may not be able to cover the dot display unit 11.

As a method of solving this, there is a method of changing the scale according to the temperature width of the display target temperature data. However, the scale must be calculated and calibrated for each temperature measurement, and the microcomputer 10 is complicated. Computations must be performed and expensive microcomputers must be used.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem and provide a digital timepiece with a thermometer capable of displaying a graph at low cost.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a measuring apparatus for measuring physical quantity data, a storage means capable of storing a plurality of the physical quantity data, and a graphical representation of the plurality of physical quantity data. In a small device with a measuring function having a display unit capable of displaying and a display driving unit for driving the display unit, the display driving unit graphically displays the physical quantity data stored in the storage unit as a relative value from a predetermined value. It is characterized by doing.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the system configuration is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. Next, the timepiece specification of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
Shows the display mode of the LCD 1 in each mode. This embodiment has an alarm mode shown in (b), a chrono mode shown in (c), and a temperature memo mode described later, in addition to the time calendar mode shown in (a). The mode is switched by the switch 7.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a fully lit state of the LCD of the digital timepiece with a thermometer according to the present embodiment. L of the conventional example of FIG.
Compared to CD1, the mark [TIM] indicating each mode
E], [MEMO], [ALARM], [CHRON
O] and various service marks (detailed description is omitted here because they are not related to the description of the present invention). Dots have been simplified, the cursor 12 has disappeared, [OVER], [TEMP], [UND
ER] has been added.

Next, how to display a graph using the LCD 1 will be described. First, the temperature memo function will be described. In this embodiment, the temperature is automatically measured every hour, and the measured temperature and measurement time are stored each time. When the number reaches seven or more, the oldest memo is discarded and the latest data is stored. The latest memo is called m1, and the newest memos are called m2 and m3, and the oldest memo is called m7. The temperature memo can be viewed by operating the switch 7 to select the temperature memo mode. When the temperature memo mode is entered, m1 is displayed at first, but can be called in order by operating the switch 7. FIG. 1 shows this.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a display mode in the temperature memo mode according to the embodiment of the present invention. Entering the temperature memo mode (a)
The display shifts to the display state of m1 as shown in FIG. Digits (1) to (4) indicate the time at which the temperature memo was stored, digit (5) indicates [m] indicating a memo, digit (6) indicates the memo number, and digits (7) to (9) ) Indicates the stored temperature. Dot display section 11 and [OVE
The three marks of [R], [TEMP], and [UNDER] are used for displaying the temperature graph. FIG. 6 shows the display principle.

As a first embodiment, the case where the predetermined data is the latest data is considered. FIG. 6 shows the display principle in the first embodiment. The basic idea is a relative display with m1, and the display is performed based on the temperature difference ΔT between the display target memo mx (x = 2 to 7) and m1. When | ΔT | ≦ 1,
VX1 to VX3 are turned on. Similarly, when 1 <ΔT ≦ 3, VX1 to VX4 are turned on, and when 3 <ΔT ≦ 5, VX is turned on.
1 to VX5 are turned on. In the case of ΔT> 5, since the dot display section 11 alone cannot distinguish it from the case of 3 <ΔT ≦ 5, [OVER] is turned on at the same time as VX1 to VX5 to distinguish from the case of 3 <ΔT ≦ 5.

Although the case where mx is higher than m1 has been mainly described above, the same applies when mx is lower than m1.
When ≦ ΔT <−1, VX1 is turned on from VX1, and −5 ≦ Δ
When T <−3, only VX1 is turned on. Also, -5> Δ
In the case of T, −5 ≦ ΔT <−3 only in the dot display unit 11
Cannot be distinguished from the case of
R] is lit to distinguish it from the case of −5 ≦ ΔT <−3.

The details of the system will be described.
FIG. 7 shows a CPU in the system configuration diagram of the first embodiment.
FIG. As described above, parts other than those shown in FIG. 7 are the same as those in FIG. The CPU 3 includes a comparison operation unit 11 and a comparison value storage unit 12. The comparison value storage means 12 stores data serving as a reference for calculating a relative value. In the first embodiment, m1 is stored. The comparison operation means 11 stores the temperature data stored in the comparison value storage means 12 and the RAM 5 between m2 and m7 in FIG.
, And outputs LCD display data S3 to the LCD driver 2 based on the comparison operation.

Hereinafter, a specific display example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display mode in the temperature memo mode. When entering the temperature memo mode, m1 data is displayed on the digit part as shown in FIG. The dot display unit 11 performs a graph display corresponding to m2 to m7 based on the above display principle. m2 from V21 to V25
However, m3 corresponds to V31 to V35, and so on.
7 corresponds to V71 to V75. Also, [TEM
[P] blinks to indicate that the current display is m1, and that the graph is displayed based on the m1.

(B) is a display when the memo m5 2.4 ° C. higher than m1 is selected. In this case, V51 to V54 of V51 to V55 corresponding to m5 blink in the display sequence. Flashing indicates that the memo corresponding to the bar graph display is selected.
By performing this blinking display, the cursor 1 in the conventional example is displayed.
2 can be omitted.

(C) is a memo m4 which is 15.4 ° C. higher than m1.
This is the display when is selected. In this case, all of V41 to V45 corresponding to m4 blink in the display sequence. At the same time, it indicates that the temperature is higher than 5 ° C. [OVE
[R] blinks.

(D) is a memo m7 which is 14.6 ° C. lower than m1.
This is the display when is selected. In this case, only V71 blinks out of V71 to V75 corresponding to m7 in the display sequence. At the same time, [UNDER] indicating that the temperature is 5 ° C. or more is blinking. As described above, the graph display is performed only by the comparison operation, so that the operation process is reduced,
In addition, the number of dots can be greatly reduced.

In the first embodiment described above, the latest data m1 is used as a reference for the comparison operation, but it is also effective to use the average value of the stored temperature data.
This second embodiment will also be described.

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the vicinity of the CPU 3 in the system configuration diagram of the second embodiment. The other parts shown in FIG. 8 are the same as those in FIG. 5, as in the first embodiment. Compared with FIG. 7, an average value calculating means 13 is added.

The average value calculating means 13 takes in the temperature data (here m1 to m7) stored in the RAM 5, calculates the average value and sends it to the comparison value storing means 12. Subsequent steps are the same as those of the first embodiment, except that m1 is included in the operation target. In addition, a comparison operation similar to that of FIG. 6 is performed, but the comparison reference is not m1 but an average value. The specific display mode is the same as that of FIG.

The above is the description of the graph display in the temperature memo mode. However, recently, not only this embodiment but also digital watches generally have a plurality of functions. By displaying graphics corresponding to these functions, the display of the functions can be further enhanced. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the function display is enhanced and the LCD 1 is used effectively by using the dot display 11 for the temperature memo also as a graphic other than the temperature memo. This will be described with reference to FIG.

(A) shows the display in the time mode. The dot display section 11 lights up one dot every one second from the lower left V71, and after all the dots are turned on, turns off one dot every second from the lower left V71.
This emphasizes the operation every second.

(B) shows a display in the alarm mode. When the alarm is on, a check pattern as shown in the figure is displayed. This pattern is displayed irrespective of the mode when the alarm sound is output, and further enhances the notification effect not only by sound but also visually. In the alarm mode, it is displayed as the monitor.

(C) shows a display in the chrono mode. When the chrono is in the run state, a “→” pattern as shown in the figure is displayed. This pattern synchronizes with the chronograph's 0.1 second and displays such that the arrow flies from left to right. This gives a more visual effect to the fast movement of the chrono. In the chronograph mode, the digits (7) to (9) are also used for displaying the chronograph in the order of 1 / 1000th of a second, and the LCD display is also effectively used in this aspect.

(D) shows the display in the forced temperature measurement state. In the present embodiment, in addition to the automatic measurement at every hour, there is a forced temperature measurement in which the temperature is continuously measured for three minutes by operating the switch 7 in the time calendar mode. In the forced temperature measurement state, the vertical stripe pattern as shown in the figure is displayed in black and white inverted every 0.5 seconds. This indicates that the state is different from the display in the normal time calendar mode.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, a graph can be displayed with a small number of dots by displaying a graph of the physical quantity data stored in the storage means with a relative value from the latest physical quantity data. And cost reductions are possible.

Further, by blinking the portion corresponding to the physical quantity data selected by the selecting means, the cursor display is not required, thereby making it possible to reduce the size and cost of the LCD.

Further, by providing a dedicated mark for displaying when the physical quantity data is out of the measurement range or out of the display range, it is not necessary to perform a complicated calculation process even when the measurement value fluctuates. The use of a simple microcomputer becomes possible.

Further, by using the graph display portion for graphic display of other functions, the display efficiency of other functions can be improved without increasing the number of segments on the LCD, and the size and cost of the LCD can be reduced. It becomes possible.

As described above, a clock with physical quantity measurement and graph display functions can be realized without increasing the number of LCD segments and without performing complicated arithmetic processing.
This leads to lower costs for LCDs and microcomputers and can provide a low-cost functional clock.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an LCD display in a temperature memo mode of a timepiece with a thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an LCD display in each mode of the thermometer-equipped timepiece according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a watch with a thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure of all the lighting states of CD.

FIG. 4 is an LCD display of a thermometer-equipped watch showing one embodiment of the prior art.

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention and an embodiment of the related art.

FIG. 6 is a PA showing the display principle of a graph display in the first embodiment of the timepiece with a thermometer showing one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a CP in the system configuration diagram of the first embodiment.
It is a detailed view near U3.

FIG. 8 shows a CP in the system configuration diagram of the second embodiment.
It is a detailed view near U3.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 LCD 2 LCD driver 3 CPU 4 ROM 5 RAM 7 Switch 10 Microcomputer 11 Comparison operation means 12 Comparison value storage means 13 Average value calculation means 20 Temperature measurement means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A measuring unit for measuring physical quantity data, a storage unit capable of storing a plurality of the physical quantity data, a display unit capable of displaying the plurality of physical quantity data in a graph, and a display driving unit driving the display unit. A small device with a measuring function, characterized in that the display driving means graphically displays the physical quantity data stored in the storage means as a relative value from a predetermined value. 2. The small device with a measurement function according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined value is the latest value of the physical quantity data. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined value is an average value of physical quantity data stored in the storage unit.
Small device with measurement function according to the above 4. The small device with a measurement function according to claim 1, wherein the display unit has a dedicated mark for displaying when the physical quantity data is outside the measurement range or outside the display range. . 5. There is provided a selection means for selecting any one of the plurality of physical quantity data displayed on the display unit,
2. The small device with a measurement function according to claim 1, wherein a portion corresponding to the physical quantity data selected by the selection means blinks. 6. The small device with a measurement function according to claim 1, further comprising at least one other function other than the measurement of the physical quantity, wherein a display corresponding to the other function is performed on the display unit.